Container closure



11, P; NOFER CONTAINER CLOSURE Filed Feb. 18, 1965 FCll In vemor: PA UL NOFER A T TORNEYS United States Patent N 1 Claim. (Cl. 215-39 This invention relates in general to container closures, and in particular to a new and useful cover or closure lid particularly for relatively thin-walled plastic containers or jars.

The present invention has particular relation to a construction of a lid for closing materials such as foods and to the construction of containers or cans which may be designed as so-called instant seal or as vacuum seal containers. Packings or closures for this kind of container are known which consist of a cup or a cylindrical container of rigid material with a lid made of soft, thin sheet metal provided with a gasket insert. In such instances the lid is usually made to include a centric stamping with a rim having non-elastic holding dogs which are bent around the neck of a container into a recess after the lid has been applied to the container top. Constructions of this nature usually include a container with a head or a projecting rim defining a recess under the bead around which the securing dog is positioned. After the lid is fully applied, the dogs are usually oriented to press against the outside of the container in an oblique direction from below the bead in the vicinity of the recess below the rim.

Up to the present time it has been the practice to use principally containers made of glass or sheet metal. Such containers are able to absorb, without danger, relatively high forces during the application of a cover seal. The construction of the lids for such containers with the centric stamping in relation to the top opening of the container was to provide a centering for the cover on the interior of the container rim to insure the sliding of the lid into its correct position on the container aperture before it was firmly secured thereon.

In accordance with the present invention, it was found that relatively brittle thin-walled material such as polystyrene can be employed for the container using a new closure or lid constructed in accordance with the invention. The lid is constructed such that it includes an internal centering rim or flange which is of a dimension as large as or slightly greater than the internal dimension of the container opening such that it bears against the walls adjacent the openings with some pressure. Under the action of the radial closing force exerted by this centering flange in an outward direction on a container wall, it is assured that the container will not become ruptured when the exterior dogs are sealed around the rim of the container. The construction is such that the interior flange wall will absorb all of the radial closing force components when the dogs are bent by means of a closing head and thus protect the container against bursting.

In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the exterior head or lip formed around the rim of the container is covered by a gasket or elastic covering which provides a centric projection around the container wall for receiving the dog elements without play when they are bent into a closing configuration. combination with the dimensioning of the interior flange of the container lid provides an excellent safety control for the fitting of the lid to the container, particularly when the container is of a light walled construction and made from a material such as polystyrene.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved closure structure.

The gasket, in-

A further object of the invention is to provide a closure for a container made of polystyrene and the like which includes an internal centering ring or flange of a closure lid made to a size to bear firmly, or with some pressure, against the interior wall of the container for absorbing radial forces when dog elements or securing elements carried by the periphery of the closure lid are bent around a projecting bead of the container into sealing engagement therewith.

A further object of the invention is to provide a container closure lid and container and lid combination which is simple in design, rugged in construction and economical to manufacture.

The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its use, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a partial transverse sectional view of a closure lid constructed in accordance with the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of the closure lid applied to a container and with its dogs bent into sealing engagement with the container rim.

Referring to the drawing in particular, the invention embodied therein comprises a container 1 which, in the embodiment illustrated, is cylindrical but may be of any tubular configuration. The container 1 includes walls which are relatively thin and are practically only 1 mm. thick or slightly more.

In accordance with the invention, the container 1 is opener at it upper end and is provided with a container rim formed by bead-shaped configuration or externally projecting portion 2. A feature of the construction is that the protruding bead 2 is provided with a gasket insert 4 made of a configuration such that it readily fits around the exterior of the bead and overlies the top portion of the rim partially. The gasket may advantageously be vulcanized in position or glued on or injected. It has been found advantageous to provide the gasket 4 with a step-like heel or cutout portion 4' which provides additional centering means for insuring the correct positioning of a lid or closure element 3 during the closing operation. The gasket 4 also insures the maintenance of a vacuum seal within a container. The step-like heel 4' also functions in the manner of a valve to insure perfectly tight aroma sealing (flavor sealing), or instant seals, depending on the type of seal head used. Depending upon the arrangement of the gasket insert 4 at its end position, with the closure lid 3 fully closed, and depending on the type of closing head used, a so-called instant seal can be produced in a known manner without the valve effect, or a vacuum seal with the valve effect.

A container lid generally designated 3 is formed in accordance with the invention with a flat or disk-shaped central portion 3 having a upstanding interior flange or wall 5 defined therearound. By the inventive construction, the wall 5 is made with an exterior diameter or dimension slightly greater than the diameter or dimension of the interior walls of the container 1. In thi manner, the wall 5 bears against the wall of the container 1 with some outward or radially extending force.

The closure or container lid 3 also includes a plurality of radially extending circumferentially located dogs or securing elements 6 which extend outwardly from the upper end of the flange 5. When the closure lid 3 is made, the dogs extend outwardly in the dotted line posiline dogs indicated 6 in the drawing.

the dogs 6 press against the bead 2 and the gasket 4 and 3 tion indicated at 6. When the container 1 is closed, the disk element 3' is centered within the container opening, and the fiange 5 bears against the wall of the container 1. Means such as a closing head (not shown) is moved downwardly over the lid to cause the deflection of the dogs 6 downwardly into the position of the solid In this position,

they engage the bead 2 from below. Because the diameter of the disk portion 3 and the flange 5 are dimensioned substantially as great as the diameter of the container 1 the flange forms an annular bearing surface for the container wall and, all of the radial forces acting on the container 1 will be absorbed by the closure lid 3 during the closing operation, so that the container is protected against bursting despite the fact that it may be of brittle or thin-walled material.

While a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the inventive principles, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.

What is claimed is:

A closure comprising a container having at least the upper portion thereof made of an easily breakable brittle material and having a top opening with an encompassing rim defined around the opening, said rim forming an exterior projecting bead adjacent the top of said container, and a closure lid having a central substantially flat portion closing the container opening, a substantially vertical container reinforcing wall defined around the periphery of said central portion and having an exterior dimension suflicient to cause said reinforcing wall to bear radially outwardly against the container wall to exert an outward pressure thereagainst when said central portion is substantially flat, and a dog element portion engaged around the exterior of said rim and comprising a projection of the top of said reinforcing wall having -a downturned outer edge, a gasket connected to the underside of said dog element and extending from said downturned outer edge to the juncture of said dog element with said reinforcing wall and having a cutout portion adjacent said reinforcing wall engaged by said rim bead, said downturned outer edge of said dog element extending downwardly in a substantially'horizontal position below said rim bead, the cutout of said gasket being engaged around the rim bead including a flat portion of said gasket overlying the top of said rim bead.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,671,903 5/1928 Jaeger 215-40 1,921,682 8/1933 Loeber 220-42 1,997,291 4/ 1935 Barroll 220-42 2,331,939 10/1943 Shaw 215-39 X 2,487,400 11/ 1949 Tupper 215-41 X 2,606,586 8/1952 Hill 215-41 X 3,158,277 11/1964 Luertzing 215-40 FOREIGN PATENTS 620,142 5/1961 Canada. 837,179 11/1938 France.

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner. D. F. NORTON, Assistant Examiner. 

